FRG7700 SG 2

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This manual is downloaded from the FoxTango site,
http://www.foxtango.org
Yaesu
FRG-7700
HF Receiver
S ur vival Guide
Revision 2 march 2008
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SPECIFICATIONS
Frequency Range: Audio Output:
150 khz - 30 Mhz in 30 bands 1.5 Watts ( 8 ohms, 10% THD)
Modes: Speaker Impedance:
AM, SSB (USB, LSB), CW, FM 8 ohms
4 - 16 ohms for external speaker or headphone
Sensitivity:
AM SSB/CW FM
0.15 - 0.3Mhz 30 V 3 V/500 ohm -
0.3 - 2Mhz 25 V 2 V/500 ohm -
2 - 30 Mhz 5 V 0.5 V/50 ohm 1 V/50 ohm
Selectivity: -6 db -50 db
AM wide 12 khz 25 khz
AM medium 6 khz 15 khz
AM narrow 2.7 khz 8 khz
SSB/CW 2.7 khz 8 khz
FM 15 khz 30 khz (-40db)
Stability:
Less than +/- 1 khz from 1-30 minutes after power-on
Less than +/- 300 hz after 30 minutes warm-up.
Antenna Impedance:
0.15 - 2 Mhz (BC) 500 ohms unbalanced
2 - 30 Mhz (SW/BC) 50 ohms unbalanced
Power Requirement:
100/110/220/240 Volts AC, 50/60 hz
Power Consumption: With Memory Unit:
Standby 10W 10W
ON: 33W 39W
12Vdc: 850mA
Size:
334(W) x 129(H) x 225(D) mm
Weight: With memory unit:
Approx 6 kg. 6.5 kg
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This is the second revision of the Survival Guide for the Yaesu FRG-7700, one of the most versatile receivers from Yaesu.
I hope that with the help of this guide your Frog can survive the next 20 years or more.
This Guide is in the true boatanchor tradition, a collection of known faults and the solution suggested and tried by hundreds
of hams around the world, and a story of resurrection of a receiver at my workbench.
This second revision is updated and there are new chapters on the accesoires for the FRG-7700, some schematics and a lot
of other useful stuff, usually from fellow users, that made their experiences available in the Fox-Tango groups.
My command of the english language could be better, so I apologise up front for languistic mistakes here and there.
I just hope, that in the true Ham spirit, I can help somebody to maintain his FRG-7700 in good condition.
This Survival Guide is by no means complete: there are daily new questions in the FRG-7700 forum, that need an answer.
So if you have something to add to this Guide,please drop me a line at wpenders-at-home.nl and I will publish it in the next
revision. Happy listening and gd DX
73 Wim Penders PA0PGA
FRG-7700 Survival guide
Description:
The FRG-7700 receiver is introduced in 1981, as a compact communication receiver, for the reception of AM/SSB/CW and FM
signals between 150khz and 30 Mhz in 30 segments of 1 Mhz. The receiver is very sensitive and stable, and has a pleasant
audio from the built-in speaker.
The design is very basic, there are no special bells and whistles, but it was designed with the shortwave listener in mind,
who can listen to Hams, AM broadcast, utilities, pirates, CB and all the other fascinating stuff that you still can hear on the
shortwave bands. The price of the FRG-7700 was very reasonable, so it was a success.
Tuning is simple and exact, choose band and mode and you are in business, no trills and frills, listening with this receiver is
very basic, and instead of fiddling with menus, you learn to listen.
Maybe that is the reason that this receiver is still very popular, and in demand by hams, even after 20+ years.
You can obtain a used one in good condition for a reasonable price on hamfests or (with care) on Internet.
On some of the next pages you find a guide for buying and things you have to look out for, before you spend your hard-
earned $$, and more info to keep your FRG-7700 alive for a while.
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Most shortwave radios sold today actually tune a much broader frequency range that includes the AM broadcast band and
parts of the longwave spectrum. A typical tuning range is from about 150 kHz to 30 MHz. By international agreement, the radio
spectrum has been divided up among various users. While there are some exceptions, most nations and the stations they
authorize do follow the allocations described below.
While the list was apparently made with the US amateurs in mind, it can be useful for all listeners all over the world.
The shortwaves, where to find what :
150 kHz and below: Signals on these frequencies cannot
propagate well via the ionosphere, but are able to penetrate
ocean water well. As a result, several military stations used
for submarine communications are found here. Most
transmissions are in CW and RTTY. You need a really large
antenna to hear much here, and in most locations electrical
noise and static will be too high.
150 to 540 kHz: This is what most SWLs mean by longwave.
Most stations heard in this range are navigation beacons that
continuously repeat their call signs in Morse code. There is a
also a broadcasting band in Europe from 155 to 281 kHz.
Some RTTY signals are found in the upper end of this band.
Marine weather and safety broadcasts, known as NAVTEX,
are transmitted on 512 kHz. Your best reception here will be
at night, especially during the fall and winter months.
540 to 1700 kHz: This is the AM broadcasting or medium
wave band which use to end at 1600 kHz. The AM broadcast
band now ends at 1700 kHz, with 1610 to 1700 kHz being the
new X or extended band. New stations began appearing
here in late 1997, and this new X band is providing excel-
lent DX listening opportunities.
1700 to 1800 kHz: This is a grab bag of miscellaneous
radio communications, mainly beacons and navigation aids.
You may hear several transmitters that sound like chirping
crickets; these are floating beacons used to mark fishing and
offshore oil exploration locations.
1800 to 2000 kHz: This is the 160-meter ham radio band.
Most voice communications will be in LSB, with best reception
at night during the fall and winter months.
2000 to 2300 kHz: This range is used maritime
communications, with 2182 kHz reserved for distress
messages and calling. There are also several regularly
scheduled maritime weather broadcasts by U.S. Coast Guard
stations. Most activity will be in USB, and best reception is at
night.
2300 to 2498 kHz: This is the 120-meter broadcasting
band, mainly used by stations located in the tropics. However,
the FCC has allowed WWCR in Nashville, Tennessee to
broadcast here and others may follow.
2498 to 2850 kHz: More maritime stations are found here,
as well as standard time and frequency stations WWV and
WWVH on 2500 kHz.
2850 to 3150 kHz: This band is used mainly by aeronautical
stations in USB. Several stations broadcasting aeronautical
weather bulletins, and you can also hear traffic between
airports and airplanes aloft.
3150 to 3200 kHz: This range is allocated to fixed stations,
with most communications in RTTY.
3200 to 3400 kHz: This is a very interesting segment. This
us the 90-meter broadcasting band, used mainly by stations
in the tropics. Canadian standard time and frequency station
CHU can be heard on 3330 kHz. Several fixed stations also
use this range, including several associated with various
agencies of the U.S. government. Best reception will be at
night.
3400 to 3500 kHz: This range is used for aeronautical
communications in USB.
The 3500 to 3750 kHz range is used for CW and RTTY
communications, and the rest of the band is used for LSB
voice. The 3900 to 4000 kHz range is used for broadcasting
in Europe and Africa. Best reception is at night.
The European band is from 3500-3600 for CW,3600-3800khz
LSB voice. 3790-3800 khz is used as DX-window.
4000 to 4063 kHz: This is a fixed station band, mainly used
by military forces for SSB traffic.
4063 to 4438 kHz: This is a band used for maritime
communications in USB, with 4125 kHz being used as a calling
frequency.
4438 to 4650 kHz: This range is mainly used for fixed and
mobile stations in USB.
4750 to 4995 kHz: This is the 60-meter broadcasting band,
used mainly by stations in the tropics. Best reception is in the
evening and night hours during the fall and winter. In winter,
stations to the east of you begin to fade in an hour or two
before your local sunset, and stations to the west of you dont
start to fade out until an hour or so after your local sunrise.
4995 to 5005 kHz: This range is allocated internationally to
standard time and frequency stations. In North America, youll
mainly hear WWV and WWVH on 5000 kHz.
5005 to 5450 kHz: This range is a real jumble! Several
broadcasting stations are found in the lower part of the seg-
ment, and fixed and mobile stations in SSB, RTTY, and CW
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are found throughout this band. Best reception is during the
evening and night hours.
5450 to 5730 kHz: This is another band for aeronautical
5730 to 5950 kHz: Another jumble of different stations!
For years, this band has been used by fixed stations of the
U.S. government for communications in USB and RTTY.
However, several broadcasters are also showing up here.
5950 to 6200 kHz: This is the 49-meter broadcasting band,
and is loaded with signals from late afternoon to a couple of
hours after your local sunrise.
6200 to 6525 kHz: This is a very busy band for maritime
communication in USB and various FSK modes like AMTOR
and FEC.
6525 to 6765 kHz: This is another busy band, this time for
aeronautical communications in USB. Best reception is during
the evening and night hours.
6765 to 7000 kHz: This segment is allocated to fixed sta-
tions, with signals in SSB, CW, FAX modes, and miscellaneous
digital modes.
7000 to 7300 kHz: The 7000 to 7100 kHz range is allocated
exclusively to ham radio worldwide, although an occasional
broadcaster will show up here. The 7100 to 7300 kHz range
is allocated exclusively to ham radio in North and South
America, but is used for broadcasting in the rest of the world.
Several station transmit programs intended for reception in
North and South America in this range. As a result, interference
is often very heavy here during the night and evening hours.
Hams use CW and RTTY from 7000 to 7150 kHz, and mainly
LSB from 7150 to 7300 kHz. Best reception is from the late
afternoon to early morning, although some hams can usually
be heard here around the clock. The European band is from
7000-7045 CW, 7045-7200 LSB voice, DX around 7090-7100
7300 to 8195 kHz: This segment is mainly used by fixed
stations, such as Canadian standard time and frequency sta-
tion CHU on 7335 kHz, although several broadcasters can be
found in the lower reaches. Various FSK (RTTY) and digital
modes are used.
8195 to 8815 kHz: This is a busy maritime band from the
late afternoon until early morning, with most traffic in USB
and FSK modes.
8815 to 9040 kHz: Thi s is another aeronauti cal
communications band, with traffic in USB. Several stations
hear broadcast aeronautical weather reports.
9040 to 9500 kHz: This range is used mainly by fixed sta-
tion in various FSK and digital modes, but it is also used by
several international broadcasters.
9500 to 9900 kHz: This is the 31-meter international
broadcasting band, and is packed with stations from around
the world. Best reception is usually from mid-afternoon to
around mid-morning, although some stations can be heard
here throughout the day, especially in winter.
9900 to 9995 kHz: Several international broadcasters use
this range along with fixed stations using FSK modes.
9995 to 10005 kHz: This is set aside for standard time
and frequency stations, like WWV and WWVH on 10000 kHz.
communications.
Because it is so narrow, operation here is restricted to CW
and RTTY.
10150 to 11175 kHz: This segment is used by fixed sta-
tions. In addition to various FSK and digital modes, you may
hear several international broadcast stations being relayed
in SSB. These feeder stations are used to send program-
ming to relay sites not served by satellite downlinks.
11400 to 11650 kHz: This segment is mainly used by fixed
stations in FSK and digital modes, but some international
broadcasters also operate here.
broadcasting band. You can usually hear several stations here
no matter what time of day you listen.
11975 to 12330 kHz: This band is primarily used by fixed
stations in FSK and digital modes, although several interna-
tional broadcasters are found in the lower area.
12330 to 13200 kHz: Thi s i s a busy mari ti me
communications band during the day and evening hours, with
traffic in USB and various FSK modes.
13200 to 13360 kHz: Aeronautical communications in USB
are heard here during the day and evening.
13360 to 13600 kHz: This range is used by fixed stations,
mainly in FSK and digital modes.
broadcasting band, with best reception generally during the
daytime and early evening.
13800 to 14000 kHz: This is used by fixed stations, with
most communications in FSK modes.
The lowest 100 kHz is reserved for CW and RTTY use, with
USB popular in the rest of the band (although U.S. hams
cannot transmit in SSB below 14150 kHz). Best reception is
during the daytime and early evening.
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tions, primarily in FSK and digital modes. Canadian standard
time station CHU is also found here, on 14670 kHz.
14990 to 15010 kHz: This sliver is reserved for standard
time and frequency stations, with the best heard being WWV
and WWVH on 15000 kHz.
15010 to 15100 kHz: This range is for aeronautical
communications in USB, although a few international
broadcasters do show up here.
broadcasting band, and it is usually packed with signals during
the daytime and early evening.
15600 to 16460 kHz: This band is used by fixed stations in
USB, FSK modes, and digital modes.
16460 to 17360 kHz: This range is shared between
maritime and fixed stations using USB, FSK modes, and digital
modes. Best reception here is generally during the daytime.
17360 to 17550 kHz: The range is shared by aeronautical
and fixed stations using USB, FSK modes, and digital modes.
broadcasting band, and best reception is usually during the
daylight hours.
17900 to 18030 kHz: This band is used for aeronautical
18030 to 18068 kHz: This range is used by fixed stations,
18068 to 18168 kHz: This is the 17-meter ham radio band,
where CW, RTTY, and USB are used.
18168 to 19990 kHz: This large band is used by fixed sta-
tions, with a few maritime stations also found here. Most
traffic is in FSK and digital modes. An interesting frequency
is 19954 kHz, used for decades as a beacon frequency by
Soviet/Russian manned spacecraft. Reception in this range
will usually be limited to daylight hours.
19990 to 20010 kHz: This segment is reserved for standard
time and frequency stations, like WWV on 20000 kHz.
Reception here is usually possible only in daytime.
20010 to 21000 kHz: This range is mainly used by fixed
stations and a few aeronautical stations. Most traffic is in
FSK and digital modes as well as USB.
CW and RTTY is mainly found in the first 200 kHz, and USB is
used in the rest of the band. Best reception here is in the
daytime hours.
broadcasting band, with best reception during the daytime.
21850 to 22000 kHz: This band is shared by fixed and
aeronautical stations in FSK and digital modes as well as
USB.
22000 to 22855 kHz: This range is reserved for maritime
communications in USB and FSK modes. Best reception is in
daytime during years of high sunspot activity.
22855 to 23200 kHz: This band is used by fixed stations,
23200 to 23350 kHz: Aeronautical communications in USB
are found here.
tions in FSK and digital modes.
24890 to 24990 kHz: This is the 12-meter ham radio band,
used for CW, FSK, and USB work. Reception is usually limited
to the daytime during years of high sunspot activity.
24990 to 25010 kHz: This range is for standard time and
frequency stations, although none are currently operating
here.
25010 to 25550 kHz: This band is used by fixed, mobile,
and maritime stations, many of them low powered units in
trucks, taxicabs, small boats, etc. USB and AM are mainly
used, along with FM having 5 kHz deviation. Best reception is
during daytime in years of high sunspot activity or during a
sporadic-E propagation opening.
25550 to 25670 kHz: This region is reserved for radio
astronomy and is usually free of stations.
broadcasting band. However, only Radio France Internatio-
nal has any broadcasts scheduled here at this time..
Reception is usually possible only in daytime during years of
high sunspot activity.
26100 to 28000 kHz: This band is used by fixed, mobile,
and maritime stations, many of them low powered units in
trucks, taxicabs, small boats, etc. USB and AM are mainly
used, along with FM having 5 kHz deviation. The citizens
band (CB) is found from 26965 to 27405 kHz. Best reception
is during daytime in years of high sunspot activity or during a
sporadic-E propagation opening.
Most activity is in USB from 28300 to 28600 kHz, with FM
used on 29600 kHz. Best reception is during daytime in years
of high sunspot activity or during a sporadic-E propagation
opening.
29700 to 30000 kHz: This range is used by low powered
fixed and mobile stations, mainly using FM with 5 kHz
deviation.
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How to buy a used Amateur Radio set.
A BUYERs GUIDE by: Wim Penders PA0PGA
There are several ways to buy your next Ham treasure:
On Hamfests, Internet (careful!), the ham next door, or ads in magazines. All very fine, if you have a sort of guarantee that it will
work as described. It is always a big disappointment to receive a box of junk instead of the promised good working set.
If possible, collect yourself, that way you have at least seen the set, and have a general idea of the state it is in before you give
up your hard-earned money. We try to help you by giving you tips to get the most for your $ .
First of all: Buying older equipment is not unlike buying a
oldtimer car: almost always it is in a state between needs
attention to a complete wreck, that needs a lot of work
done to be useful for you.
You have to ask yourself if you are up to that task, it takes
time and money and the necessary knowledge to get it in
good working order, but if you have it working, you have a
experience that is next to building something yourself and
you will work with much pride with it because you have learned
a lot and understand how and why it works. You grow
attached to it.
When I see some questions that are asked in the forums, it
is clear that some new owners have not a clue how to proceed
when it is not working as supposed, and I think that many of
the sets are a write-off after they have tried it to repair, a
real pity for the set involved and -worse- for the disappointed
Ham maybe a reason to stop with the hobby altogether.
If your technical knowledge is not that good, stick to the
somewhat newer sets, or buy a set with some form of
guarantee that it will work as supposed. Be prepared of
course to pay some more money for it than the usual run of
the mill price.
Prices depend on demand and condition of the set, and prices
of most of the older sets (25+ years), tend to go up lately,
maybe because there is more demand for real sets, where
you can fiddle with knobs instead of menus, and that looks
as a radio really should look and feel, not the multiband car
radios that we see too often today.
Even the newer Hams are aware of that, and try to get one
for themselves before it is too late.
General Appearance:
Frontplate lettering should be OK, because repair of lette-
ring is next to impossible, and repainting the frontplate is
only for the specialists. I am not.
Dust is not necessary a problem, you can clean it, but it
gives a clue if and how the previous owner has neglected it:
in many cases they have been stored in basement or garage
for some time, so check for rust spots and other oxidation
signs that points in the direction of storage in humid
surroundings.
If so: Be prepared to do a big cleaning job, including the
chassis, all modules, switches and relays and correct the
occasional troubles with trimmers and potmeters.
Otherwise, a good cleaning job does wonders and there is
no better way to get you aquitained to the set you are
restoring.
Dents and scratches all over means a lot of cosmetic work,
if possible to repair at all.
It shows also that the previous owner(s) had no respect for
the things they use. This kind of people use their sets full
bore until they give trouble, then buy another set, because
they have more money than brains, leaving problems for
others to solve.
So be prepared to find more troubles inside such a set as
blown PA tubes and other, mostly power related faults.
Re-painting and re-working is possible but cost real money
and then: you see it always, even when well done, because
the color or structure is different from other sets that you
may own.
Even when the set is electrically sound, it is annoying after
all your troubles, money and work to fix the set, you have to
look at ugly dents and scratches.
Buy such sets only as spare parts or at a very low price.
Modifications:
Look for odd looking switches and connectors on the backside,
or worse, on the front without original description. This sets
are modified and you will have a interesting time to find out
what the previous owner has done and to bring it back to
normal. It can be a real pain in the ass because these
modifications are almost never documented by the previous
owner(s).
A very common modification was: changing the 10M band
segments to CB, or other HF bands to the nearest pirate
band. Because most of this mods are done in a very
haphazard way, you will have to restore the set back to nor-
mal for proper Ham use.
You need to change the crystals (not cheap), for the correct
ones and maybe the setting of the display setup.
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More often than not you have to replace the driver and PA
tubes, because they are used full bore in the FM and AM
mode and thus are on the end of their lifetime.
Use your nose and sniff at the set, when a transformer is
cooked, you will smell it.
A new transformer, if available at all, is very expensive, in
fact cost oft more than you paid for the whole set. Never pay
top dollar for this, there is always more work and money
required than you expect, and resurrection results are at
best questionable.
My advise if you are not a very experienced Ham: keep away
from this sets, or use it for spares.
The Shining Ones
This are the rare sets from a collector or from a SK Ham.
Also sets from Hams that are upgrading are a good source.
They are nice and clean, complete with some options and
documentation.
This are the sets for the lovers of older equipment, that dont
want to repair or clean a set themselves. Usually the seller
asks top dollar for this kind of sets, but they are worth it.
Still a word of warning: Some sets that are very nice and
clean on the outside, are a mess inside.
A quick check is the condition of the fan: is it full of debris,
you are warned. For some reason they always forget to clean
that.
Try to find out why the set is sold. It is just like buying a used
car: almost always there is some snag and is the real reason
for selling different from what they say.
Maybe the PA tubes are shot ( a pair of 6146Bs set you back
at least $ 60.-)
Maybe the OM is just making some money free to finance his
new collecting item, or is quickly bored and has to have
something new to play with every 2 months or so.
In that case you are in luck, you never can tell. Such super
sets have of course to come with all documentation and must
be complete.
Buying from a collector is never cheap, they have invested
much time to perfect the set and are reluctant to let it go.
You can be sure that the owner cared for it in every way, so
even if you have to pay some more, you will have a excellent
piece of equipment in your shack, that is worth that kind of
money, say 20-25% above normal.
Sometimes you see rediculous prices for a collector item on
E-pay, but they are only meant to make an excessive profit
for the seller and aimed for people that have money to burn
(mostly not their own hi), but not for you and me.
Complete:
Look for completeness: Cables and Handbooks. The special
interconnection and power cables are a difficult find, so look
to it that they are coming with the set. See the handbook for
the parts you need.
The used cables have almost always special connectors that
costs real money if you have to buy them, if obtainable at all.
I see often on Internet sets without any cables: they sell
them separate, to bring some extra money. The same goes
for optional boards, filters and more. So be alert.
Ask the vendor about the set, that way you have a idea how
the set was used, and if there are problems to be expected.
The less information the vendor gives, the more you can
expect problems later. I may sound maybe cynic, but after
dealing for more than 40 years with people who sell stuff, I
know what I talk about. Better bad looking than burned.
Handbooks (User manual and optional Service Manual) are
for ham sets almost always downloadable from internet.
You can get them almost always for free and you can print
them yourselves.
I like to have the originals when available, even when they
cost money. The print is clearer and you have beautiful multi-
page schematics, very useful if you have to work on the sets.
So your checklist so far:
Looks: Look through the dust, you can clean that.
Condition: working? /troubles? / heavy used?
Scratches/ dents: You will never get it in pristine condition.
Complete: Hardware, /cables, /handbooks, spares.
Vendor: Ham? / e-Pay score? / Commercial?
SO YOU HAVE YOUR SET
AND NOW:
You have your set arrive at your door or from the trunk of
your car and you cant wait to put it to work.
Please wait a second or two and take your time to check
some fundamental things.
Check for the proper voltage.
Check for the proper fuse rating in your powersupply.
Open the case, bottom and top.
Check for loose connections or wires, burned or discolored
components, in power supply and in general for any unusual
things. Boards tend to come loose in transport.
Clean the set inside and outside, switches and relays, pot-
meters, if necessary. Use only De-oxid for this, under no
circumstances K-40, because it leaves a oily film on
components.
For cleaning and adjusting of your set, you find several more
articles in this volume.
After you check everything, you may use the set, first the
receiver, and when this to your satisfaction, you can tune up
in a dummy-load and test if all is as it should be.
Never tune on the band: it is unneccesary and very annoying
for the people who work on the tuning frequency.
Do not pollute the radiowaves with your signal, as we have
already enough noise and interference as it is.
If you really have to tune on the band (adjusting antennatuner
or so), keep it as short as possible and with low-power.
Mark your tuner settings for future use, so there is no need
to tune again. That way you act as a considerate Ham.
Be welcome with your new set on the bands.
73, Wim PA0PGA
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Manuals:
Copies of the User Manual and the Service Manual can be
obtained from the Fox-Tango website, by far the best website
for all classic Yaesu equipment. If you want to work on your
FRG-7700, it is a must to have the manuals and schematics.
See: http://www.foxtango.org
The manuals are very informative and deal with the use and
alignment of the receiver, and have a complete partlist.
Another very good source for free manuals is KB2LJJ,
http://www.kb2ljj.com/ who has manuals of almost all mo-
dern Ham equipment. On this site are also modifications,
pictures, descriptions and more. Recommended!
Parts:
Unfortunately after 20+ years there is no dealer around who
still carries spare parts, but fortunately there are not much
special parts used in this receiver and most parts are easy
substituted by standard parts.
The receiver is very rugged and, if normally used, there are
not much problems.
The only parts that can give trouble after longer use are the
mechanical parts as switches and potmeters. It is not easy to
find replacements for them, keep an eye open for special
parts at hamfests, or have a good junkbox filled with old
radio parts.
I can recommend the Graveyard section on the Fox-Tango
site, they are a excellent source for special parts. See for
yourself at www.Foxtango.org.
Alignment:
FRG-7700 receivers have no problems, but after 20+ years
of use, a re-alignment can be necessary because some parts
have changed their specifications.
To align the receiver, you have to be very familiar with the
used circuits or you end up with a worthless piece of junk, if
you dont understand what you doing. That is true for all
kinds of communication equipment. I have seen all kinds of
junky stuff on e-bay, that was tampered with and sold for
high prices, to the chagrin of the new owner.
A common problem is a loss of the frequency coverage, usually
at the end of the tuning scala due a detuned PLL oscillator.
The receiver has normally a overlap at each range from bet-
ween 30 to 50 khz at each side from the range, for example
at 7 Mhz the receiver tunes from 6950 to 8050 khz, and other
bands have the same overlap at each end.
The PLL circuit in the FRG-7700 needs some attention if you
have the following sympthoms:
If the end point of each Mhz range is getting lower at the
high side of each band, a re-alignment of the first PLL is
necessary, ( receiver receives not higher than 950 or so on
the analog scala )
More info to get your FRG-7700 operational
If only the end points at the 5, 12, 20 and 29 Mhz bands are
too low, a re-alignment of the second PLL is necessary.
This alignments are not difficult to do, you need a good counter,
a VTVM, RF millivolt meter or oscilloscope and fitting plastic
or ceramic tuning tools. Under no circumstances use metal
screwdrivers for alignment of the coil cores, they will ruin
the cores. Use only fitting plastic or ceramic alignment sets.
For the trimmers use a small screwdriver or a ceramic one,
The procedure to align the PLL is described in the Yaesu
Operator and also in the Service Manual,
There are some changes to make in the manual:
PLL Reference oscillator Adjustment:
Set the MR switch off, and connect a frequency counter to
TP04, (instead of pin 9 of the MB-84040B ic, as the manual
says) and adjust TC 2002 for a frequency of exact 6.400 Mhz
on the counter.
The result is the same as in the manual, but you dont have
to work at the ic, with the risk of shorting pins.
The PLL Local alignment can be done as in the book, if you
dont have a HF VTVM to measure the voltage, you can use a
HF oscilloscope for this alignment, together with a counter.
However, if you dont have either, skip this alignment, If you
receive signals, this section is working. Just check for a 47.6
Mhz signal.
For alignment of the first PLL, connect your dc VTVM to TP05
in front of the first PLL box, and rotate the main dial to the
1000 position of the analog dial. Adjust T2007 for a rea-
ding of 7 volts on the meter. Try to make 7 volts as close as
possible.
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10
Rotate the dial to the 0 position and check the voltage, it
will be around 2.4 Volts. The manual says between 1.5 and
2.0 Volts, but none of the four receivers I tested were in that
range. All of them had higher values from 2.25 3.1 volt and
are working fine, so I let it at that.
For alignment of the second PLL connect your dc VTVM to
TP03 just in front of the MB8718 ic and rotate the dial again
in the 1000 position.
Set the bandswitch at the 5 Mhz band and adjust T2004 for
a reading of 7.4 volts dc.
Change the bandswitch to the 12 Mhz band and adjust T2003
for a reading of 7.4 volts dc.
Try to make this adjustments very careful, often these volta-
ges are too high, resulting in a loss of range or a failure to
lock properly, with a high phase noise level as result.
Now rotate the dial to the 0 position and change the
bandswitch to 0, 6, 13 and 21 Mhz position and check the
voltage at TP03, they should be between 1.5 and 2.0 volts.
I measured voltages between 1.45 and 1.70 volts in my sets.
Be carefully with the coil cores of the PLL, they have been
stabilized by a lot of wax, which can give some trouble.
Be gentle, you can feel trough the wax for the correct position
of the core, normally there is not much movement necessary
in any direction to obtain the correct voltage.
Dont force things, if the core breaks, you are in trouble.
In case of a broken core slot, remove the core altogether,
and put it in upside down, you have a second try this way.
The cores are not interchangeable, so do one at a time.
The general alignment can be done as described in the manual,
with the proper tools and equipment, it is a straightforward
job.
For a fully alignment you need a signal generator with
attennuator and a range from 0.1-65 Mhz, a frequency coun-
ter, VTVM, and if you want to align the noise blanker too, you
need a noise generator.
Follow closely the procedure in the manual, if the receiver is
in a normal condition, the changes should be minor.
Is the set very unsensitive, check first the semiconductors in
the circuit, or there can be resistor or condensor failure, that
is much more likely than misalignment
Closely check for abnormalities ( burnt or cracked
components, bad soldering joints, bad connectors and other
trouble spots). If you check carefully, use the schematics and
the very good circuit description in the handbook to make
yourself familiar with the circuits used.
My experience with 4 of this receivers is that most of the
failures I encountered, are small and easely reparable.
What really sticks out is the powersupply bridge rectifier, bad
switch contacts and connectors, but they are common faults
that almost all equipment of this age have. The only difficult
part is the Display driver IC, because it is unavailable now.
Problems I have encountered:
Power Supply:
There is a source for trouble here: the transformer, rectifier
bridge and condensor 6800u/40V are always on, because
they deliver 13.5V to parts of the receiver, used for the clock
and automatic switching at the selected time.
This should not put too much strain on the powersupply,
because the current is minimal. The source for trouble is the
rectifier, who becomes very hot, so hot in fact that in one
case the wires to the transformer caught fire, and the
condensor exploded. Check the soldering joints from the
bridge, in the board, they can have some cratering, solde-
ring them trough, is then the solution. A change for 4x 1N5405
or another bridge rectifier is also possible.
If you dont use the receiver for automatic recording of
transmissions, or for a long time, disconnect the set from the
mains, or mount a powerswitch at the backside of the set,
that way there is no risk of fire. If you have the memory
option, it is best to use the backup battery adapter.
Dial Lamps:
Dial lamps are long lasting, but have to be changed now
and then. They are 12 Volt /100mA types, with long wires,
and can be obtained in every parts store. Eventually you
can use bulbs with short wires and solder them to the
existing long wires after cutting away the old bulb, using
isolation tube or crimping tube to isolate the wires and
joints. That way you dont have to remove the metal
frontplate for access to the soldering joints.
Be Careful: Remove the powercord first!!
The lamp of the VFO is mounted in a small reflector that is
very close to the soldering side of the receiving board and
this lamp is always glued to the grommet from the heat of
the lamp, so changing is very difficult. To get access, you
have to disassemble the front panel and the analog dial. During
the change it is easy to bend the reflector somewhat, and
make a momentary short to the board, destroying the coun-
ter/clock ic in the process, because the IC (and part of the
powersupply) is ON all the time. It is really necessary to
remove the power cord, otherwise you do not remove all the
power, with disastrous results.
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11
Displaydriver IC MSM-5524RS:
If the display is not working, there can be several problems,
but the most common is the failure of the big driver IC the
OKI MSM-5524RS or the surrounding switching circuit.
The MSM-5524RS is a 40-pin LSI chip, with a clock, dual
timer (on/off time), a countdown timer for 60 minutes, and a
5-digit frequency counter, which is used in this receiver for
the display of the received frequency.
The MSM-5524RS drives a 5 digit fluoricent (green tube!!!)
multiplexed digital display for clock and frequency. A mode
switch changes the display for frequency, clock, on-time, off-
time and sleep function.
If the receiver is switched off, the display is off, however
power to the IC is always on. The display stays on when the
mode switch is in one of the clock modes and then displays
the time even when the powerswitch is off.
The MSM-5524RS IC is the same as used in the Kenwood R-
1000 receiver, and you can find some info of the chip and
circuit diagrams in the R-1000 manual, which I reproduce at
the next pages.
There are some things to know about the frequency display:
The displayed frequency is the PLL frequency ( 0.455
30.455Mhz) offset bij the IF frequency (455khz), resulting in
a frequency display of 0.000 to 30.000Mhz. There is just one
offset possible, so in SSB mode there is always a frequency
difference between the carrier frequency and the displayed
frequency of about 1.5 khz because the carrier of a SSB signal
is at the lower or upper side of the signal. The highest
resolution of the display is 1 khz, so there is always a frequency
difference of 1-2 khz between the true and the displayed
frequency.
This explains the difference in frequency as you are listening
to a ham net on a given frequency.
For AM however, the displayed frequency is correct, if the
received station is tuned in the center of the filter.
The MSM-5524RS IC is very dependable, and, when normally
used, there is seldom a failure.
You see seldom a R-1000 with a display failure, because they
use a different board layout.
Problems with this IC are almost allways man-made, like a
short during the change of the light bulb in the VFO, (see
above) or poking around in the set with the powercord
attached.
If this IC fails, you are in big trouble, because the
manufacturer stopped the production some 15 years ago,
and supply is very scarce if found at all.
I saw one (used!!!) on e-bay, for a rediculous price (around $
60.-), so be prepared for a long search.
Maybe they have been used in some clock radios from the
eighties, but I did not find any yet. Your best bet is to obtain
a spare set with a defect display or otherwise, and use the
good IC.
Kenwood used the same IC in their R-1000 receiver, so that
can be a source as well.
Causes of trouble for this IC are the switch and the switching
diodes which choose the mode of operation.
One of my sets had a bad mode switch. Using the clock was
no problem, but the switch could not change to the frequency
mode, it still displayed the time. The reasons where bad
switching contacts in the mode switch.
I took the switch out and removed the back plate. If this is
carefully done, you can put the switch back together again
without problem. After a squirt of contactspray and working
the switch a couple of times, everything worked nice again.
In another case I found diode D43 that was no diode anymore
but a resistor of 5k-ohm, the on and off time of the display
was the same, and there was a curious frequency display.
The frequency displayed was the receiving frequency :10,
plus 455, so 7455 displayed as 791, so apparently the 455
khz offset was not switched on.
I changed all three diodes for 1N4448 types, because they
had a bad oxydation of their leads. Later I found out that this
particular receiver has been used in a sea-going yacht, and
salt water spray left its corroding mark
If you have some weird display problems, check those diodes
first, or the attached switches and transistors.
Display:
The display type is FIP 5A8B, a 5-digit green fluoricent tube,
of the kind that is much used in home audio equipment and
in practically every receiver and transceiver of the eighties.
Yeasu uses a amber filter, to change the color in the style of
all their equipment of the time (FT101ZD, FT901)
This tube has a filament, and has in the long run the same
problem as all tubes: the filament is coated with emitting
material, but after long use, this material is exhausted and
the display is getting dim. I never saw a dead one tough.
Yaesu Serial Numbers
If you want to know, how old your set is:
Just look at the Serial Number on the back of your set.
The first digit is the production year, (1979=9, 1980=0
the letter is the month (C= jan, D=feb, A & B not used), the
two first digits give the production run, the last 4 give the
production number. A M before the first digit indicates that
this FRG-7700 was delivered with the Memory module fitted.
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FRG-7700 Accessoires
The FRG-7700 had several useful accessoires that you can find in quantity on the used marked. There was a FRT-7700
antenne tuner, a FRA-7700 active listening antenna and a FRV-7700 VHF converter, that had three additional tuning ranges.
FRT-7700 Antenna Tuner
The FRT-7700 Antenna tuner matches all kind of receiving
antennas to input of the FRG-7700 receiver and thus
optimalizes the energy transfer between antenna and
receiver. No antenna is optimal for the whole frequency band
of 0-30 Mhz, but is only optimal on the resonant frequency
and the harmonics, so a antenna tuner of any kind is necessary
for optimal receiving. It is simply connected between the
antenna and the receiver, see below.
All accessories could be connected in daisy chain to the FRG-
7700. The only problem was the increase of knobs and buttons
and the many possibilities of the combinations, that confuses
many a Ham. The antenna tuner has a step-attenuator and
6 extra bandfilters for even better selectivity.
FRA-7700 Active Antenna
The FRA-7700 is an active antenna for use indoors, it allows
you to listen to shortwave transmissions, if you can not place
a outdoor antenna.
It consists of a whip aerial and a selective high-gain amplifier,
with FET frontend. The gain is variable.
The preamp can also be used when you have a short out-
door antenna, or the higher bands to increase sensitivity there.
It is better than nothing, but in my opinion,a lenght of wire in
the outside world, or even long wire in the attic is a much
better choice.
At all times try to get the whip as close to the outside as
possible. Modern buildings have sometimes concrete walls,
that act as a Faraday screen to your radio.
The FRA-7700 is connected to the FRG-7700 in a similar ar-
rangement as the picture at left and is powered by the
accessoire socket of the FRG-7700. This power is further
available at the acc1 connector at the back of the FRA for
connecting the FRV converter, who has also a accessory
connector (5-pol DIN 180 degree).
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FRV-7700 VHF converter
The FRV-7700 VHF converter extends the receiving capacity
of the FRG-7700 to the VHF bands. It is intended for receiving
VHF Airband, 2-meter Amateur, Wheater satellites and Utility
transmissions. Wich bands you can listen to depends on the
model. The FRV-7700 has six models, all for a combination
of 3 VHF bands:
Model A: 118-130 Mhz, 130-140 Mhz, 140-150 Mhz
Model B: 118-130 Mhz, 140-150 Mhz 50-59 Mhz
Model C: 140-150 Mhz, 150-160Mhz 160-170 Mhz
Model D: 118-130 Mhz 140-150 Mhz 70-80 Mhz
Model E: 140-150 Mhz 150-160 Mhz 118-130 Mhz
Model F: 150-160 Mhz, 160-170 Mhz 118-130 Mhz
For Ham radio, model B was the most interesting because it
could be used for 6 meters, 2 meters and VHF airband.
The tuning scheme is given by the picture below, and the
circuit diagrams are on the next pages.
The FF-5 highpass filter/switch
The FF-5 add-on filter/switch was intended for use of
one antenna for BC and SW/BC listening.
In the FF-5 was an extra BC filter for cutting out the BC
frequencies above 500khz, neccessary when you live in
the neighbourhood of strong AM transmitters. When there
is strong Broadcast interference, the mixer of the receiver
will be overloaded and produce a lot of mixing products
that interfere with the signals that you want to listen to.
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14
DMU-7700 Memory Unit
The FRG-7700 was standard rather complete, including
power supply, all filters and a FM board, that was a option
for the majority of receivers of the time.
Another useful feature was the DMU-7700 Memory Unit, it
was a (expensive) option unit for the FRG-7700.
It had 12 memory channels to store your most used
frequencies on the push of the M button. You could recall the
frequencies bij choosing the right memory channel and pus-
hing the MR button. Then the receiver was automatically
tuned to the stored frequency, including the bandsection.
There were no facilities for storing the mode however, as is
usual in the newer receivers.
Remember, when this receiver was coming out in 1981, the
digital revolution was just about to begin in earnest, memory
chips were real expensive, for 1K you paid as much as now
for 1Gb....
After you recalled a frequency from memory, you could use
the Fine tuning knob for exact tuning the station. Because
the recalled frequency had just 5 digits, there was some
frequency difference of - or + 100hz in the reception.
This can be corrected by the Tune knob, who has a range of
abouth -5 to +5 khz, enough for normal use. You can also
use the Tune knob as a RIT control by tuning the frequency,
choosing a free memory position on the 12-position memory
knob, pushing the M button to store the received frequency
in memory and the push MR for recalling the stored
memorized frequency. Now you can tune around the
frequency with the Tune knob.
The DMU-7700 unit fits to the back of the receiver. After
taking off a small cover plate, you get access to a handful
connectors, that are marked and have all a different size, so
connection to the FRG-7700 is easy as sliced bread.
The stored frequencies in the Memory Unit are retained in
the memory, as long as the set is connected to the mains.
There is also a battery backup possible, with a battery adapter
for 3x AA batteries. Use a good quality batteries here, leakage
of the batteries can do a lot of damage.
By using the battery backup, the clock data is stored as well.
All in all, most receivers have no Memory Unit fitted.
If you buy a FRG-7700, always ask if the module is fitted.
When you are on a Hamfest, just look at the back of the FRG-
7700, the memory unit is a rather big scewed-on module,
you cannot miss it.
It is worth the extra money that is asked for a receiver with
added module. It has not the versatility that the newer sets
have, but it is very useful.
FM Unit PB 2176
The FM Unit is not a option, but is interesting
enough to gi ve you the schemati c for
troubleshooting. It is a separate board that is
mounted to the backside of the receiver.
It consist of a mixer to 455 khz, amplifier/limiter
and a phase discriminator.
On the board is also a AVC detector and amplifier.
The design is simple but effective for listening to
narrow-band FM transmissions in the 11 and 10M
bands and for use with the VHF converters.
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PAPGA
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PAPGA
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A FRG-7700 adventure
(a resurrection story of a FRG-7700)
I have recently bought two receivers, one with a bad
displaydriver, and another, defect one, as spare.
Well, as things go, the spare rx had also a display problem,
the previous owner told me afterward that he had used the
receiving and PLL board himself for a swap, because the
powersupply of his receiver had blown up, so I expected that
I had just got a bunch of spareparts for my other receivers.
After much searching, I found a source for the MSM-5524RS
Clock-driver IC in Australia and repaired the receiver with
the display fault. After desoldering the old IC, I put the new
IC in a IC socket, because several times desoldering a 40-pin
IC is not good for the quality of the board and the IC It is
best to put all ICs you have to repair in sockets, if they fail
once, it can happen again.
The dead spare receiver didnt look too bad optically, so I
decided to try how far I would get with the resurrection of
this receiver, just for the fun of it. ( After 46 working years I
am retired now, so time is not a issue).
I had to construct a new powersupply for the receiver, because
the owner had trown away the burned powerboard, but
fortunately, at his place, I had fished the original transformer
out of the dustbin, complete with burn marks and burned
wires for eventually repair (rewinding).
I tested the transformer, after cutting off the burned wires
and repairing them with the use of crimping tube and suitable
wires. The transformer was OK, after a day under full load
(2A) he was rather cool, so I decided to use him.
The transformer is a common type with a primary for 110/
117 and 220/240V, the secundary is 15V @ 2 Amps.
For the power supply board I had 2 options: copy the existing
boardlayout from another receiver or construct one myself.
I designed a board, centered around a trustful LM-317
regulator IC and a NPN power transistor. Very basic but highly
dependable. For the bridge I used 4x 1N5005 3A silicium
diodes and the ripple condenser is a 10000uF/50V type. I
mounted all on a piece of epoxy experiment board, see the
pictures and schematic below.
The LM-317 makes the construction very easy, and the out-
put to the rx is adjustable to exact 11 Volts dc.
I put in a couple of protection diodes over the LM-317, for
safety reasons.
The powersupply works excellent, and stays much cooler than
the original one. After a day on there is no warming-up, and
stability of this receiver is now the best of the lot.
Variable
After connection of the power supply, the receiver seemed to
work: it had a hissing sound, and after much searching ( the
display didnt work, the bandswitch was not in the right position
and the analog dial was off-scale, I found a station in the 13
Mhz commercial band, that I recognized, and after confirming
with another receiver, I was able to calibrate the analog
dial and put the bandswitch knob at the right position. Well,
that was the only band with signals, but at least there was
hope for the better.
After a careful inspection of the PLL board, I saw that the
bandswitch had been tampered with, the switch had been
removed and resoldered, but several print traces were pulled
off, and repaired with some wires, so I measured the
connections and found a broken trace. To repair the board, it
was necessary to take the PLL board out of the receiver. While
I was at it I measured all diodes and inspected the rest of the
board very carefully. All seemed ok.
After studying the schematic, I suspected a partially defect
MC14504. It is a level translator between the BCD bandswitch,
memory unit and the MB-8718 programmable divider, so I
soldered the IC out and put in a IC socket. If I got a spare,
changing the IC was done in no time.
After inserting the board, I checked the bands, and now I
had several more bands with signals.
PAPGA
18
Several bands were there, but on the wrong position of the
switch, 7.000 8.000Mhz was now 12-13Mhz, and other
bands had also weird switch positions.
Because the display didnt worked either, I put a counter to
the counter output of the PLL, to have at least a indication of
the frequency. (the counter frequency 455khz is the receiving
frequency).
I made a truth table of the 6 input pins of the MB-8718, and
soon discovered that pin 15 had no true 0 or 1, but had always
a voltage of 3.15V on it. When touched with the multimeter
probe, the divider switched to the right frequency, so my
suspection of a bad MC14504 proved correct and I ordered a
new MC14504. After putting it in the socket, all bands were
now in the correct order. I checked and adjusted the two PLL
circuits, because they were way off the right tuning voltage.
I could see that here had been a very fustrated amateur at
work, who had turned on every coil and trimmer, in the process
making more trouble than he started with.
out, I discovered that there was a solder connection bet-
ween the power pins of the two oscillators, so they worked
at the same time. Maybe a previous owner didnt like to switch
between USB and LSB.
While the board was out, I desoldered the MSM-5524 and
the 74LS196 IC and put them in a socket. Close inspection
discovered some more shorts between solder joints. The
OM who worked on this receiver was clearly not qualified to
work at this kind of equipment, and has a BIG soldering iron
After reinserting the board, I had now signals at all bands.
The remaining problem was now the counter and the clock.
The counter displayed only a righthand zero, the clock was
partially working, the AM Led was on all the time, the ON
and OFF timer had the same time, only the countdown timer
was working. My first impression was that the clock/counter
IC was defective.
I tested the counter amplifier and discovered that the 74LS196
dit not get a proper signal. The first 2 transistors of the
amplifier were working, but then things went wrong, so I
took the board out again to change the transistors, but after
another close inspection I found that the BIG soldering iron
has been there also, and made a short between collector
and base of the third amplifier transistor. After correction I
had a signal at the 74LS196 IC and surprise!, had now also
a 3 digit frequency display. The displayed frequency was the
counter input, without the IF offset of 455khz, and divided by
a factor 10. (I had the counter still connected).
So, it seemed that the counter IC did at least something.
The Xtal oscillator was working and on frequency.
Mode switching is done at pins 7, 8 and 9, so I checked the in
After re-alignment, the PLL board was working again, but
now the VFO was not working well.
When I tested the output with the counter, I found that the
output wire in the connector was broken, so I repaired the
connector.
Now I had signals on every band, but had another curious
problem: On USB or LSB I had signals, but also a steady
tone of around 3khz, independent of the incoming signal. It
seemed to me that both sideband oscillators were running
at the same time, but I could not see how, because the
sideband switch was working correctly. After pulling the board
and outputs of the IC and found that pin 8 was no true zero.
I checked again the mode switch, which was ok, and the
diodes D42/D43/D44, who are used for switching.
Bingo.. D43 was defect and displayed a resistance of 5 K-ohm
in both directions.
All the diode wires were very corroded, so I changed all three
diodes. I found out afterwards that this receiver was used on
a sea-going yacht, and some spots were corroded from the
salt water, or the high humidity on-board.
After changing the diode the frequency display was working
correctly, and the problem with the clock was solved also.
The AM Led was changed because it seemed at the end of
his lifespan. It was the first time I saw a burned out Led,
they seem to glow forever!
PAPGA
19
The S-Meter was not functioning properly, and after taking it
out, I saw that the movement was just a block of rust. I
cleaned it as far as possible, but the needle stuck every now
and then, so I suspected a broken movement, or the coil was
out of the bearings.
I had the meter out, searched my junkbox, and found a VU
meter from an old cassettedeck, which was a near-perfect
fit. I checked the resistance of the movement and even that
was almost the same. I swapped the meter scale, and put
the meter back.
The FRG-7700 was now working again, so I did a tune-up
according the manual, surprisingly, it needed not much re-
alignment.
Compared with my other FRG-7700, the signals were almost
the same strenght, so I spended some time to clean the
chassis, knobs and frontpanel, and then rebuild the set.
After rebuilding, I have tried some modifications, to improve
selectivity and test some ideas of my own, like a clarifier,
improve sensitivity for the AM bands and others. See below.
Modifications:
Fine tuning with ease:
One of the features I missed on this receivers is a small RIT
control or fine tuning, a very handy device when I am listening
in on a net or ragchewing Hams.
The ragchewers are not always at exactly the same frequency,
and constantly tuning with the main dial is no fun, because
you easely overcompensate, missing a part of the QSO.
The main dial can be set exact enough, but to follow quickly
changing QSOs it is too coarse.
A FRG-7700 with a memory unit has no problem with that,
you tune in, push the Memory button and then Memory read.
You can then tune around the frequency with the Memory
fine tune knob. After studying the circuit diagram I found
that the Memory Fine potmeter is nothing more than a vol-
tage divider, the output is used to tune a varicap in the
memory unit. Well, why not tune a varicap in the VFO with
the existing circuit ? I did it this way in a home brew transceiver
some 25 years ago, and that worked fine.
So I took the VFO out the receiver, a very easy job, altough it
means the removal of all knobs, scales and front panel.
Be careful with the lampholder on the VFO, (see above!!),
disconnect everything, including the power cord. I then build
in the VFO a small circuit with a VHF varicap that was on
hand (BB 209), and a small ceramic condenser (10-12pf)
over the existing variabele condenser. The tune voltage is HF
decoupled by a 10k resistor and a 22n condenser. I soldered
everything spider-style to the tuning condenser. See picture.
The only critical part in this mod is the ceramic condenser, it
must be a type with a neutral temperature coefficient (NP 0,
black dot). After testing, the VFO was retuned (with the
trimmer only)! to 2500 khz with the variabele condenser
fully meshed. With the condenser fully open I had a frequency
of around 3600Khz. The variabele tuning range changes
somewhat over the band: on the low side the frequency span
of the fine tuning is around 12 khz, at the high side it is
around 3-4 khz, but because the fine tuning was meant for
the hambands which are all on the low end, the variation is
more than enough for normal use. The stability of the VFO is
just the same as before, and the calibration of the analog
scale is not affected in any way.
In normal use I have the fine tuning in the midposition, so I
can tune either way of the station.
Should you need a smaller or greater variation, just change
the ceramic condenser, I found that the variation at the low
side is around 1 khz/pf.
A wire is soldered to the connection of the 10k resistor and
the 22nf condenser and is brought out of the VFO, together
with the 3 existing wires. This wire has to be 10 cm longer
than the others. The variabele voltage from the fine tune
potmeter is available on pin 13 of Plug 34. This plug is not
connected if you dont have a memory module, so we can
solder a pin to the end of the RIT wire, isolate everything
with crimping tube, and plug this pin in position 13 of P34.
For the pin I used a old wirewrap connectorpin, it has the
right size. The wire of pin 13 has a white/violet color. See
picture.
If you should obtain a memory module later, the only thing
you have to do, is pulling the wire off the plug and earthing
it, and connect the plug to the memory module.
This modification is very elegant, because there is no drilling
or extra knobs necessary, simply undone if neccessary, easy
to use and has no side effects in stability of the receiver.
I can recommend this mod and have now done it to all my
FRG-7700s, except one, who had the memory module
installed.
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Another set of modifications are described on
a very interesting Swiss internet site:
The adress is:
http://www.dr-boesch.ch/radio/yaesu-frg7700-mod1.htm
You find very much interesting stuff there about ham equipment
and a lot of very good descriptions of ham equipment. The
pages are in German, so I will give a translation of the mods,
for the benefit of all of you who are not fluent in that language.
I did only the listed mods on the receiver board, there are
some more on the powersupply, but i did not use them, so
look at the site eventually.
I used parts what I had on hand, special the minichokes, I
listed the used ones.
After modification the receiver is to re-align according the
service manual, for the best results.
The adjustments are very minor in a well-aligned set.
The original mods were described by Georg Lechner in ma-
gazine Weltweit Horen nr 11/1986
Description of the mod:
The FRG7700 is a half synthesiser, half conventional design,
and is nearly identical to the Kenwood R1000. The circuit
design is ok, but can be improved. The set and memory
module is very stable, but some changes improve the receiver
considerabely:
1) Put parallel to the SW socket a minichoke of 100-
200 microhenry, and parallel with the BC socket a
choke of 1 MilliHenry, to form a DC path to unload
antenna charges.
2) Change R3 (47 ohm) near the antenna plug in 470
ohm, to make the attennuator more usable.
For the rest of the mods it is necessary to remove the receiver
circuit board from the receiver.
3) Remove R01 (4k7) and R03 (470 ohm) to lessen the
coupling between the BC and SW inputs.
4) Change C07 (47nf) to 4n7, and C69 (10nf) to 2n2,
for lower audio interference.
5) Change R46 (470 ohm) to 330 ohm, and put a
500microHenry - 1 MilliHenry minichoke in series,
for a higher collector current of Q1 to Q6.
6) Change R60, R61, R76 and R78 from 470 ohm to
330 ohm, for a better 1
nd
and 2
nd
mixer current.
7) Change R79 (100 ohm) in a 100-300microhenry
minichoke for a better decoupling of the mixer.
8) Change C94 and C95 (all 10nf) in 1nf, for a lower
load of T09 and T10.
9) Remove R85 (4k7) for a better Q of T09.
If step 8 and 9 is done, you have to re-align T09 and T10 for
maximum signal.
10) Change C89, C101, C111 and C117 (all 10nf) to
560pf, to lessen the load on T08,T10, T11 and T12.
11) Remove R65 (12k) to raise the Q of T05
12) Remove R124 (10k) to raise the Q of T13.
It is possible to remove also R115 (10k), but the
gain and noise of the 2
nd
IF will raise to high level,
and can cause oscillations. So it is not
recommended.
You can change the IF filters for better ones, a
recommendation ( I did not change any):
CF01: CFW 455HT or CFG 455H, bandwidth 6khz
CF02: CFJ 455k6 or, much more expensive: Icom
FL44A, 2.3 khz
CF03: CFS 455J, 3khz
CF04: CFS 455H6, 6 khz
13) Change C164 (470 uF) to 47 uF, for a higher
pitched audio.
Personally, i did not like the result, and changed
this elco back to 150 uF.
14) Solder a 330nf condenser parallel to C158 (100nf),
for a better tone correction. Again, I did not like
the result, and changed C158 to 270nf.
This last part is a pure audio modification, and
makes the audio somewhat higher, and gives a
better SSB signal, but for SW broadcast, the audio
quality is good as is and need no changes.
I have done this mod on one of my receivers and
think there is a improvement in performance,
special in the AM band. I think that changing the
filters brings even more improvement. (not tried)
I saw this very mod also published in one of the
Fox-Tango Newsletters, I think in 1982.
The complete FoxTango Newsletter collection is
available from the Candy store of W4CLM on CD.
Great reading stuff about all the classic Yaesu gear
like the FT-101s, Ft-901, 102, 101ZD and more.
In my opinion worth every penny, you pay for it.
Wim Penders PA0PGA
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You simply take
the front off,
said the man.....
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Im having a problem with my Yaesu FRG-7700s tuning.
On all bands I can only tune to approximately 939 even though
the tuning knob keeps turning. For example in the 6000-7000
kHz band I can only tune to 6939 kHz.
Frequencies I can tune, ex: 10000 kHz, 15000 kHz, 630 kHz,
1500 kHz, 6165 kHz. 9580 kHz, etc are accurate with the
expected stations.
Can the FRG-7700 be fixed? Is this something I can do myself?
------
My 7700 usually doesnt tune the bottom kHz of every MHz
range. for example it will tune 5015 to 6015. sometimes when
it gets really warmed up the range will increase but never to
full capacity.
This needs a PLL re-alignment that is rather easy to do: you
only need a dc voltmeter. See page 9
------
My display is 2khz off frequency: How to adjust?
The apparent displacement of the frequency is due to the
fact that the tuning is made over the sideband instead of the
(suppressed) carrier.
If you tune over one known transmiter in AM , then the
frequency display is correct.
Instead, in SSB, (upper or lower), you tune the
receiver to the center of the corresponding sideband, that
seems displaced around 1.6 khz of the carrier.
This is not a failure of the display.
------
need help .... FRG-7700 WILL NOT TUNE
I have a FRG-7700 that was just sitting here for some time,
and now has new batteries but IT WILL NOT TUNE; the tune
knob does not change
the received frequency or the displayed frequency, and the
display last 3 digits is stuck at 106 ..The MHz and the display
changes with the band switch position. it receives whatever
is at the displayed
frequency. The tuning knob seems a bit stiff.
Any ideas about a simple solution ???.
Clean and refresh the grease in the reduction and in the
bearings of the condenser.
Hi, On my FRV/FRT/FRG the black and red push-button antenna
recepticals at the back are worn, in fact some are broken.
The casing has split at the lower corners, where the
rectangular push button is pressed against by the spring.
Glueing is no option; the spring is too strong. Any ideas
to repare or replace these broken clamps?
Regards, Dirk
BTW after the first receptical broke, I immediately used some
TSL-oil to lubricate the other ones. Easier to operate, less
friction, less wear
Answer: What about Speaker-clamps?
They come mostly in pairs of two and can easily removed
from their carrier-parts.
Postings from the Yahoo FoxTango FRG-7700 group
I have had an FRG-7700 for a while now and was wondering
if its just mine or are they all pretty weak in the M.W. dep-
artment?
As a fellow FRG7700 owner I can tell you that in common
with many similar designs there is deliberate attenuation
below approx 2Mhz. In some parts of the world, particularly
Europe, much of the entertainment broadcasting prior to VHF
FM was on Medium wave frequencies. The transmitting
stations have been, traditionally, owned and operated by
national governments as public broadcasters and this has
led to a preponderance of relatively few but high powered
stations. At various times of the day depending on propogation
conditions this can mean that with typical channel spacings
of approximately 9khz receivers are assailed by a plethora of
strong signals. The needs of DXers are not considered as
highly as those of general listeners in this area and it has
been common practice to reduce the susceptability of
receivers to strong siganal effects by limiting sensitivity. The
designers of the FRG770 provided even further attenuation
through the addition of a local/dx switch on the rear panel.
One thing you could check is the setting of this switch (they
are not unknown to go high resistance also).
Reference to the manual for the FRG7700 will detail the
difference in sensitivity for the lower frequency bands.
It is possible to modify the FRG7700 to improve sensitivity on
the lower bands and also other aspects of performance but
you should be aware that some considerable expertise and
access to test equipment (beyond a simple VOM) are
prerequisite.
73 de pat g4gvw
--------
If you follow the #1 rule of working on electronics, you will
NEVER get shocked. ALWAYS unplug the unit BEFORE you
take it apart......
Hello Everyone:
Ive posted the mods at my Web site that I recently did to the
above units.
The FRT tuner mods were more for operating convenience
than performance, but I wanted to eliminate the series
attenuator function and retain the Pi-network attenuator and
finally provide a single output so that the tuner can be used
with any radio.
The FRA active antenna was never of much use to me, but it
does have a nice low noise preamp. And the components in
the filter section are of high quality, but unfortunately the
designer elected to configure it as a parallel filter which has
always been way too broad. I measured the effective Q of
the filter section which had very soft passband slopes. I
suppose this is due to the characteristic impedance of the
input and output. I then cut the ground lands to the filter
section and wired it in series. The peaking effectivity is
considerably tighter amazingly tighter! I did most of this
during the weekend between wife-given chores, so I dont
have the exact figures, but in time, I will plot the two pass-
band response curves and post them. The nice thing about
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Rants of an old Serviceman:
Read it, Cut it out and hang it above your Workbench
Andrew VK3BFA in:...> wrote:
OK, I will stick my head up and offer a few thoughts about old
radios, in particular the TS520 which seems to feature so
much in this group.
I have been a licensed amateur for 35 years, and am a working
electronics technician. Thats not to say I know everything,
far from it - I am only too aware of how much there is to
learn....flexibility of mind, willingness to learn new tricks is
an essential part of our hobby. And I like the old radios (for
me, its relaxation) cause I can
SEE whats inside - SMD is a right proper bastard from a
servicing point of view. And as for micro controlled devices -
I prefer to buy an extended warranty, let someone else replace
an entire board if necessary....
The TS520 is a good choice to start out in the nuts and
volts of radio. Why? - because they are relatively simple,
cheap, and any mistake you make is unlikely to be catastrophic.
Get it grossly wrong, and it can kill you, or burn your house
down. A short, spectacular learning curve.
Rules to live by - all from stupid mistakes I have made in
ignorance or stupidity. If you want to debate brand or model
numbers with me, or obscure engineering points, dont bot-
her. Been there, done that. At 55, am a legitimate old Grump.
So there.
NEVER assume the previous owner(s) of your 30 year old
radio were remotely competent.
Check the wiring of the mains cord, check the fuse is the
all this is that you can use both units with any receiver. The
next step is going to be how to eliminate the two inputs on
the FRG itself, and yet keep sensitivity at maximum especially
in the MF AM bcast band.
I have developed a balance / mix circuit that works on
paper. possibly, this weekend Ill have some actual test bench
results to post here. The B/M circuit allows for a balancing
and mixing of the two antenna inputs so that the best
combination of the FRGs internal filters can be used, depen-
ding on which freq. you are tuned to.
You can see what Ive done so far at my site. There are two
pages,one with text and pics and the other with schematics.
Just click the Yaesu link on the front page.
Happy Listening,
Bob, N1KPR
http://www.geocities.com/amdxlog/index.html
Hi everyone!
I was lucky enough to acquire a 7700 about a month ago.
It seems almost mint. No mods that I can see and I dont
think its ever been opened. It has worked perfectly until
recently.
I turned it on and after about a minute, the frequency started
jumping up and down and the signals developed AC hum on
them. I turned it off and after another minute turned it back
on.
After a short time, the same thing occurred. I shut down
once again and this time unplugged the line cord. After a few
minutes I replugged the line cord and turned it on. It has
worked fine ever since.
What do you think? Should I remove the bottom cover and
re-solderthe bridge rectifier? Or, is this a sign of some other
failure about to happen? Ive been a ham since 64 and have
worked on
many rigs but thought Id ask the experts first! Thanks in
advance for any help you guys (and gals) can provide.
73, Joe-WA9LAE.
Joe, resolder the power board and check the 11 Volts on the
board, think that you have a case of bridge-itis, bad contact
from the rectifier bridge to board, a common fault.
correct rating. It usually isnt. Do a thorough visual inspection
BEFORE you power it up. Clean the dust out, make some
spiders homeless. Make up a test lead (known as suicide
leads in the trade) with a 100 watt light globe in series with
the mains input - any gross fault will show up as full brightness
of the lamp. Shows something is wrong, wont burn out
anything made of unobtainium. Turn the valve/tube filaments
OFF for this test. Bulb should NOT come on.
With heaters on, slight brightness.
Read the F.... manual. Cover to cover. Then read it again.
Put it next to your bed, read a few pages at night. They are
EXCELLENT. They were written in an age when it was expected
that the amateur could, and would, and did, fix his own gear.
They assumed you were NOT an engineer with a masters
degree in EE. Sometimes, they are terribly confusing as you
will not understand some, or a lot, or even ALL of the terms
used. Fine, Google on a term you dont understand, dig out
your (older) ARRL book, look it up. If you dont have a basic
understanding of how it works, you will not fix it. Period.
Intuitive flashes of genius, or cheat sheets, rarely work. BUT
they do work sometimes, so people kid themselves they are
a substitute for logical fault finding....(more on this later...)
HV kills - or at the least, will throw you across the room and
ruin your day. Not nice. Use the one hand rule - ie, use a
clip lead to connect the negative lead of your multimeter to
chassis, the other lead (the red one) is used to probe around.
Your not used hand is in your pocket. Its not casually leaning
on the chassis to make a ground return circuit. You will be
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24
zapped, in time, by chance, by error, by stupidity, but hopefully
it wont kill you. Do this, you will LESSEN the chance of being
zapped by the HT. And on the same subject, you WILL destroy
your first multimeter by doing something stupid.
Get used to it - everyone does. Write it off to experience. And
most of us will do it to a few multimeters over the
years......(thankfully, modern DMMS are cheap...)
So.....thats enuff for one post. Will continue later if I get any
positive feedback. Its late at night here in OZ, still have
customer jobs to do. You dont, you do it for enjoyment -
dont forget that.
Its important. If it starts to stress you, walk away.
There is always tomorrow. Or next week. You have your mo-
dern rice burner box to use on air, so dont worry to much.
REMEMBER - its only a hobby.....its only a hobby...its
only a hobby...
73 de VK3BFA Andrew.
Part II
REMEMBER - its only a hobby, its only a hobby.
Re: Whats inside WD-40 - and a bit of a RANT.
WD40 is a general purpose HOUSEHOLD Lubricant(?) that
should NOT be used on electronic equipment. Its uses are to
help free up seized bolts, water dispersant, spraying on gar-
den tools to prevent (some) corrosion, and as a degreaser.
Kills weeds too, but thats an unauthorised use. Thats its
majority use. Its main constituent is kerosene (I thinks, not
100% sure). Its cheap, readily available - and thats why its in
such widespread use. I use it for that reason, a can lives on
the lathe, another can in the garden shed. Every now and
then, theres a get 200ml FREE offer - worthwhile.
It is useful as a spray lubricant during lathe operations to
provide SOME lubrication, clear chips, and SOME cooling.
USELESS as a drilling/tapping lubricant except for aluminium.
There are better products available, but not as cheap, or
convenient. Its also useful as a cleaner/degreaser when
stoning milling machine etc tables. Cause its cheap and readily
available. Easy to clean up afterwards. DO NOT use as a rust
preventative on chucks, ways etc, it doesnt work.
Electronics - here in Australia, products from the CRC
corporation are my choice - they are a rare product in that
they live up to the claims on the can. This is based on over
30 years working in the service industry.
No university degree, or exhaustive technical investigation,
just experience - the main one being jobs dont come back
with cleaner/lubricant related problems.
For radio -
CRC 226 as a general purpose lubricant and pot denoiser.
CRC CO (contact cleaner) to clean out dirty pots before using
226. Also used on rubber keypads on remote controls, strips
off the years of finger grease which is the main reason they
fail.
CRC Switch Cleaner/Lubricant is a truly EXCELLENT product,
suitable for general purpose and HV switches.
DO NOT use as a bearing lubricant, ie in brass/bronze bus-
hes typically used in our radios fans. get some Sintered Bronze
lubricant, the one I use is German, called SINTERLAGER OL
- a 20ml squeeze bottle will last for ever. Available from TV
service component suppliers.
ALL products, irrespective of brand, should be used sparingly.
Too much will act as a dust magnet, make problems down
the track. For the average amateur, a can of 226 will last
years, or lose its internal gas pressure before you run it out.
Same for Switch Cleaner/Lubricant, even here - I need a
new can, not cause the can is empty, but for the
aforementioned reason.
SHAKE THE CAN BEFORE YOU USE IT. Prime it by spraying
into a cloth (oh, ok - the floor will do...can join the solder
blobs...)
So. There. End of minor RANT. In all certainty, I have hit
someones hot buttons and they will disagree. So be it, all I
can go by is my own practical experience.
BTW - use the supplied plastic tube to get it to where you
want it, its what its for. And when a can runs out, keep the
tube - they DO tend to get lost in toolboxes.....
73 de VK3BFA Andrew.
Re: [] Philosophical RANT about old radios...
Andrew, I have been trained in similar fashion from 68 up
and liscenced in 80 and been on the air with a TS-830 since
at least 1984 maybe earlier, I dont remember now.
Ive believe you brought out a very valid set of points.
Things I learned way back in my high school days.
Been bit more than once and damaged and repaired a few
ruined multimeters due to stupidity.
Youve summed up my thoughts Ive expressed to others time
and time again and like you I differed with others on technical
questions and seen some bad injuries the results of others
mistakes.
You sum it up well. The modern day manual is not written
for the average person. These books seem to be something
more like they are written for keeping lawyers in check
because they can say hey we told them already in writing.
To much can sometimes be just as bad.
I think its partly because of how the way the industry changed
the way things were made since the 1970s.
------
Again: Dont rush things, it is only a hobby !
Tomorrow will be another day and you had
time to think it over, so you fix it then in half
the time you need now.
73, Wim PA0PGA
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MSM-5524RS Counter/Display IC Datasheet
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MSM-5524RS Counter/Display IC Datasheet
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Hello there,
Im Wim Penders, PA0PGA, writer of the Survival Guides. Altough I have no real education
in electronics, I have had a lifelong interest in radio and electronics. The start was as
usual: a crystal set out of old parts from a demolished radio, that I build when I was 12,
later 1V1 and other tube sets. At the time (fifties), it was quite normal to have a job at
age 14, so I took up carpenting, because a job in telecom was out of order. In the
Service at age 19 I worked as a Radar operator, and have learned a lot but still had no
way to have a education in electronics. After the Service period, I had other preferences:
met my lovely wife, and build myself a house, where I still live in. In 1967 I did the
exams for my Amateur license and started on 2m with a home-made AM transmitter, a
6CW4 converter and BC-653 as receiver. A year later I did my CW exams and got a A
license, that I have for 41 years now. In the next years I was very active building all
kinds of equipment, I spend almost a year to build a HF transceiver, that covered 80-
10m, with a 9 Mhz IF, more or less along the same line as Yaesu used later in the FT-
200/Tempo One. (see picture) Later I bought a FT-200, because there was less time to
spend on the hobby. We had 2 kids, and they needed time too. Later I was able to turn
my hobby into my job by starting in a electronics firm, who did assembling clone IBM
A very interesting job that ended when the firm decided that the future was in
homecomputers. It lasted 7 years after that. I am retired now and took up the
hobby again. I like to bring old ham radios back to life again. The Survival Guides
are in this line, because I like to share my experience with you: real Hams, that find
satisfaction in restoring older Ham sets. Because I am a self-educated Ham, I want
to show other Hams, that it is not neccesary to have a degree in electronics to enjoy
Ham-Radio today. There is so much information to get from Internet and other
sources that you find always a answer for your questions. Joining the Yaesu forums
is another source with a lot of very experienced Hams to help you. Its up to you!
I apologise for my poor english, but that is self-educated as well..HI
73 Wim Penders PA0PGA (wpenders-at-home.nl)
computers and had a surplus shop on the side that I managed. It was fun, and I learned a lot about the most different
sides of electronics, from military surplus to exotic measurement equipment to the latest in microcomputer developments.
Nostalgia: A pricelist of Yaesu equipment from 1979 in Dutch Guilders ($ =f 2.60)
PAPGA
36
This is the resurrected FRG-7700 in my shack,
good for another 25 years
73,
Switching Unit and
Connections for the FRG-7700

FRG7700 SG 2

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